The Cherry Blossom Branch
by Always Running The Labyrinth
Summary: When young Elizabeth Middleford gets lost in the market, what would happen if Ronald Knox came o help her find her way back? -Fanfic for a friend-


The Cherry Blossom Branch

An Always Running the Labyrinth Fanfiction

Elizabeth X Ronald Knox

A/N- So this was a big effort on my part, this is not a paring I personally support. I wrote it for a friend for Christmas and i figured I should put it up here.

XOXO Grell

RK-EM

"Lady Elizabeth, please stay with me!"

A young girl went running past another older woman. The young girl was no older that twelve, she had curly blond hair that was pulled into two pigtails. She was dressed richly, she was a daughter of a marquees after all. Her nanny Paula was trailing behind her, just like a mother would follow a newly walking toddler.

Elizabeth wanted to walk around on her own. She needed to find Ciel, her fiancé, a gift for being so nice to her lately. The young girl laughed as she ran farther and farther away, till she had lost the sound of Paula. Lizzy ducked into an alley and watched as the woman went running past, calling her name as she went.

She did feel bad but she loved being in London on her own, she was able to be free and not followed by the wet blanket Paula. The woman would never let her have any fun! She giggled to herself as she walked out of the alleyway and started in the direction of the market. Or what she thought was the market.

She was really walking in the direction of the dark back streets of London. Where prostitutes lived and worked. Where disease and death were around every corner. Of course, little Lizzy was not used to the dark aspect of London. All she knew was the season and all the beautiful dresses she would buy went the season permitted her to be in London.

The more she wandered down the alleyways the more lost she was. Of Corse the young girl didn't really realize that she was getting lost, she just wanted to find somewhere to find a gift for Ciel. When Lizzy when down another street she was greeted to the sight of an old man.

He was dirty, his face caked in something that looked like mud. His clothes were tattered, they were crusted with dirt, mud and something that looked like blood. He smelt worse than anything the young girl had ever smelt before. The man was sitting on a wooded crate and had a bottle in his hand. He smiled.

"Why 'ello young girl…" He said rather darkly. Elizabeth noticed his breath smelt like whiskey. She was scared instantly.

"Hel-Hello…" She said as she scooted away from him slowly. He came closer and she began to shake with fear. His smile grew wider.

"Don't be afraid. You must be lost, I'll help you find you way back." He smiled darkly as he crept so closer to her. She kept backing up till she hit the wall behind her. Elizabeth screamed and ran for it, beginning to cry.

Little did she know, the man really _**was**_ trying to bring her back to the market. He was just a man down on his luck, he truly wanted to help the young girl. He sighed when he sat back down on his box again.

"The poor thing is going to get more and more lost…" The man sighed as he took a large swig of his bottle.

RK-EM

Lizzy kept running till she was even deeper into the dark underbelly of London. She stopped when she knew she was far away from the scary, dirty man. Lizzy, who was out of breath, sat down on a box to calm her pounding heart. She looked around and realized that she had no idea where she was. There was nobody around, all the shop windows were barred closed and doors were all shut. The blond didn't know what to do. She was all alone in London…

At that thought all she could do was burst out into tears. She cried and cried. She continued to cry till she felt a hand lightly touch shoulder. Lizzy wiped away all the tears and sniffled before looking at the body the hand was attached to. At first she was shocked to see a man.

He wore an nicely tailored suit and thick black glasses. On his hands he wore black leather gloves. His eyes were a shocking color of green and his hair was two different colors. The top layers were the same vibrant blond as hers, but the underneath was the darkest color of black she had ever seen. The top two buttons on his white dress shirt were undone, his tie was black and loosely done around his neck. The man (with his boy-like face) had the biggest smiled plastered on his face.

"Why Hello, young Miss." He smiled. "I'm surprised to see a cute girl like yourself hiding out in a dark, scary alleyway like this." Elizabeth said nothing, she just kept looking at him. He was rather cute, and she loved cute things.

"Are you lost? I can help you find your way back."

She perked up at that. She smiled wide as a blush crept across her face. Lizzy stood and flustered with her dress. The strange man smiled and chuckled as she begun to talk.

"Yes, I'm afraid I am. Can you possibly point me in the direction of the market?" She asked with a flirty grin. Elizabeth may only have been eleven but she knew how to flirt. The man smiled at her.

"I'll do you one better, I'll escort you back to the market." He said with a big grin. Lizzy smiled back.

"Thank you very much, I've been terribly lost for some time now. My maid must be very concerned." She said with her eyes cast down. She didn't wan this cute boy to think she was as little as she was.

"I imagine." The man said "So what's your name?"

"Lady Elizabeth Marquees." Lizzy said as she curtsied before they began to walk. The man stopped and gave her a very low bow.

"A pleasure Lady Elizabeth."

"And you?" She asked slowly. They stopped walking again, the boy looked at her and gave her a big grin again.

"Shinigami Officer Ronald Knox, Ronnie for short, at your service my Lady!" Ronald laughed before giving her a salute. Lizzy laughed as they begun to walk again.

"I'm very pleased to meet Ronald Knox. Now what exactly is a shinigami?" She asked, her curiosity taking over. Ronald's face faltered for a moment.

He wasn't sure if he should tell her, she would never believe him if he told her the truth. The truth being that he was a death god with the job of collecting souls of the dead and reviewing their lives to decide of they should be sent to heaven or hell. Yeah, she would SO believe that.

"Well a Shinigami is someone who goes and sees to people who are dying, my Dear. My job is like an Undertaker, only I am there when they die." He said, as serous as he could. Elizabeth looked at him with wide eyes.

"Is that why you're here with me? Am I going to die?" Her voice cracked, Ronnie looked at her with wide eyes as her own brimmed with tears.

"Oh! No, no! Never, someone like yourself will live for a long time! No I was actually trying to find my superior, Grell Sutcliff. He is supposedly lurking around here…" Ronald said before chuckling at the thought of the flamboyant ginger. He had great respect for Grell, even if he didn't do any of his work. But then again…neither did Ronald.

"Oh, well I hope you find him. I do not want you to get in trouble for helping me instead of your job." The young girl smiled at him. Ronnie smirked before he stopped again. He took the young girl's hand and kissed the knuckles. Lizzy held back a gasp, she could feel the warmth of Ronald's lips threw her silk gloves.

"A girl like you is worth the trouble and the overtime, Lady Elizabeth." He smiled up at her before giving the young girl a suggestive wink. Lizzy blushed. She **was** engaged to Ciel but…Ciel never treaded her like _this_. She mumbled a thank you before Ronald took her arm and tucked it safely in the crook of his arm.

Ronnie knew he had a possessive look on his face but he was completely smitten with this young girl. He would never act on it, William would have his head. C'mon…this girl was what? Eleven? Twelve? It was bad form of him, as a shinigami, for wanting a human…let alone such a young one. What was he going to do? He knew that she was too young for ay relationship from him, I mean he was around twenty one. He was nine years her senior. Even if that didn't stand in his way, what about her parents? He was not _really_ a noble of any kind, surely her parents could never allow him to be with their young child. Ronald had only just met her but she was making one HELL of an impression on the young shinigami.

Elizabeth was also having an emotional debate as well. She felt a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, like butterflies, Ciel NEVER caused this. Oh Ciel…how could she look at him again after flirting with this man? She barely knew him and she was ready to go anywhere with him if he asked. It was like something out of one of the fairy tales that Paula would tell her before falling into slumber. It used to be Ciel that would she would imagine saving her but now she doubted that it would ever be Ciel again. Ronald Knox had taken that spot from Ciel Phantomhive.

Ronald Knox was her Knight in shining armor and she was his willing damsel in distress.

RK-EM

Little by little, the pair make their way back to the market. They would talk about nothing and everything. They really were the perfect pair. Ronald and Elizabeth both loved cute things, they liked to flirt, and they always wanted to have a good time. Even if most people though it overzealous of them. The were happily chatting as they passed a man selling fresh cut flowers. They were of all shapes and kinds, there were all colors and smells. Some were long cut stems and some were only the flower part. Ronald stopped as one of the flowers caught her eye. The vendor smiled at the couple. She was an old Japanese woman and she knew of the old tradition of that special flower.

"Ah, my friend. The cherry blossom flowers seems to have caught the eye you your lovely lady." The woman said as she looked Ronald up and down. As he caught her looking at him, his eyes narrowed. The woman smiled.

"Oh Ronnie, can we get one? I love them so much." She said with a childlike gleam in her eyes. Ronald smiled as he pulled out his wallet.

"Alright, one of the branches in bloom for the young lady." Ronnie smiled as he handed the merchant the money. She shook her head.

"No, no. I wont take your money. I will give the young woman an non-bloomed branch, as a gold luck gift for your blooming romance." The Woman smiled. Lizzy blushed furiously as she took the branch from the old woman. Ronne gave the woman an nod before taking Lizzy's arm and leading her away.

"She was very nice, and these will bloom beautifully." Lizzy mused as Ronald smiled.

"Yes, yes. She was right about the good luck gift. In Japan, a man who is courting a woman would bring her a branch of a cherry blossom. Depending on the about of the flowers that bloomed, it would predict how many years the love would last." Ronald said as he looked at the young girl on his arm as she smiled up at him.

"Oh Ronnie, that's beautiful. Where did you ever learn something like that?" She asked.

"Well my dear, my job takes me far and wide. So I learn much about all of the cultures of the world." He said as there was a woman's voice that broke them from their dream-like state.

"Miss Elizabeth! Oh Where did you go Miss Elizabeth." Paula's voice came loud and clear, breaking Lizzy from her dreamy gaze at Ronald.

"Oh…That's my maid…" She said with a sigh, Ronald let her arm go hesitantly. He didn't want to se her go.

"That is my sign to leave you. Though, I must say I will miss your company Miss Elizabeth." He said as he took both of her hands and turning her to face him.

"Will you come to call on me, Ronald Knox? I cant bare to never see you again. I know that I've only seen you for a few hours but…I feel like I can't feel complete with you." She said, and she knew how corny it sounded but she didn't care. She knew she was in love with Ronald. Lizzy began to tear up and Ronald gave her a small smile. Brushing away the tears, he spoke slowly.

"When the last cherry blossom on the branch blooms, I swear you will hear from me but until then…" He took her hand and kissed the knuckles again before she turned to the sound of Paula as she came stomping over to her.

"Lady Elisabeth! I ask you to never leave me like that again, you were gone for hours! How did you even manage to get back here?" The older woman asked.

"Well Mr. Knox escorted me back…" Lizzy sighed but when she looked back to where the man that had stolen her heart…but he was gone.

"Oh Miss, you know how I feel when you lie to me. Come now, were going home so you can practice you needlework."

As the pair walked away, the young blond girl looked back and didn't see the shinigami on the roof as he looked at her with soft eyes. He was going to keep to his promise, he was going and call on her when the last cherry blossom bloomed.

RK-EM


End file.
